May 2016

Houston has the third-largest jail population in the United States. There are approximately 8,500 people in the Harris County jail on any given day, and up to 70 percent of those inmates are pretrial detainees—meaning they have not been convicted of a crime and are simply awaiting their day in court. Some of these defendants … Read More

Today, Harris County Courts announced that it will implement the Public Safety Assessment (PSA), a data-driven risk assessment tool that provides objective information that judges can use when deciding whether to release or detain a defendant prior to trial. Developed by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation (LJAF), which is based in Houston, the PSA … Read More